Ironman Canada; followup, reflections, photos, and more

Home again. Still not quite with it. We were held up in traffic on the way into town so I was a few minutes late for my massage, but I got worked over pretty good. Funny, but it's my right leg that feels tight and sore, but the therapist says it's the left that needs the work. Onwards. Again, no particular order.

During the run I was chatting with a guy who was doing his third Ironman in three days. Yes. Seriously. Three times around the Ironman Canada course in 3 days. Check it out.

Why use sharpies for body marking? The person that figures out how to get dirty chain lube off the chain and into a container for application on the body will corner the market.

The water was warm, and nice to swim in. Clean and clear. A bit rocky at the end, which partially explains how people are lurching back and forth on the way out of the water. While I don't think I bounded up the beach like a gazelle, I'm pretty sure it was at least a trot. I know I passed a few people which is good.

Here's a summary of my times. Just for your info.

Age group place 245 (of 277)

Total Time 15:21:01 

1803 CARTMELL, KEITH 52 (me)

Swim Time 1:12:32 (which is good enough for 119th in age group, and 1241 overall)

T1 6:52 

Bike Time 7:24:16 (includes about 18 minutes standing around waiting to pee)

T2 2:46 

Run time 6:34:36 (3:15 first half 3:19 for the second half, which just amazes me. Going into OK Falls I was thinking it was going to be a 4 hour trip back. There was a few minutes waiting to pee, not sure how much.)

I am still thrilled. My legs aren't hurting much. I can almost walk so you wouldn't notice anything different.

Chocolate chip cookies are the best recovery food I've ever found. Especially Linda's. I was disappointed there was no pizza when I got in. I'll have to get faster at these races just to get a better food selection at the end.

Looking over some of the info we found; there are more than 100 wineries or vineyards in the valley. We're going to have to go back and visit some of them. And some of the other stuff there is to see and do there.

Race course justice happens sometimes. Just before the turn onto McLean Creek road a guy passed me on the right, scared the crap out of me, since I was right on the line at the side of the road. He weaved in and out of traffic, passing left right and centre. I think he'd just gone over the centre line to pass, when a motorcycle roared up, and they waved a red card at him. Technically, all of us were drafting at that point, but there's no other choice. If you do the math, assuming each bike is 1.5 m long, and there has to be 7 m between bikes, the bike line has to be 24 K long. Any less than that and someone is drafting. Even if you assume half the people are passing it really doesn't change much since all they are doing is swapping places. As near as I could tell people were spacing themselves out as best they could, without blocking, and trying not to be tucked in right behind someone.

During the bike I saw a woman on the side of the road. I thought she was starting to work on a flat, but just as I passed, she stood up with a disconsolate expression on her face, holding a length of chain in her finger tips. I'm not sure what the typical number is, but it seemed like I saw lots of bikes being hauled off by the support vehicles, lots of flats, and several people just sitting by the side of the road waiting.

I ought to give a big thank you to my employers at Enmax and Skystone during my training peak. They were very open about flexible working hours and working from home. That made life so much easier. I don't know how people can get the training done if they've a job that has set working hours, or worse yet, shift work.

Here's some photos.

Me, walking as ordered by coach and Linda, on the way out to Penticton. Lurching already.

Getting bags ready. Yes, my bib said W. The person taking the registration was being a stickler about my first name. The upside of this was that if I heard "Keith", I'd look, because they had to know me. Except for once, when it was some buddies of Heather at the run turnaround in OK falls. Heather please say thank you to them!

Body marking in the morning.

Swim start.

Just starting the run. That's Susi bounding in to see how I'm doing. About this time the wind came up really strong. I was glad I was off the bike. The guy just in front of me is the one doing the 3 ironmans in 3 days. We were together till about 6 or 8 K maybe, I'm not sure, then he and a buddy picked it up and left me in their dust.

Finishing the run. Walking at this point, almost to the turnaround at the end of Lakeshore.

They don't have the finisher photos up yet, or at least I haven't found them yet. Maybe tomorrow. And I'll take a shot of the medal and swag.


Oh, and one of me and Leana. Which is actually pretty photogenic of me, if I do say so myself. But you'll notice I've got a drink in one hand.

Am I going to do another Ironman? Probably not.